Recovery
by wallmans-spitfire
Summary: One-shot: After being ambushed during a mission Wally is left poisoned. Artemis watches over him in the Watchtower Infirmary, waiting for him to wake up after being unconscious for over a week.


**This fic is also found on my tumblr, .com**

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Everything in the room was white, the floor, the walls, the tables, the chairs, and the bed, along with its pillows and sheets. A single light on beside the bed, a small lamp, its light magnified by the bleach whiteness of the room. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and the faint sound of two bodies breathing in unison filled the room. The room smelled strongly of applesauce and petrichor.

The room was in complete order except for the one chair pulled up beside the bed. The large white chair held a girl wearing a pair of yellow and red flannel pajama pants and a Kid Flash sweater. Artemis' long blonde hair was loose and falling over her shoulder and the arm of the chair like a tangle of blonde vines. She had a knee pulled up to her chest with the other tucked underneath her. Her chin rested on top of her knee with an arm wrapped around her leg. Her sad grey eyes were focused on the face of the boy laying on the white bed, her hand grasped his like her hold on him was the only thing keeping him from falling into darkness.

The boy in the bed had bright red hair that stood out like a house in the middle of an empty field. Wally's skin was a ghostly white, his freckles like black ink on white paper. There was white gauze taped to the side of his neck and more wrapped around his right forearm, which had spots of red seeping through. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm like Artemis'. There was two tubes in his left arm, an IV and another clear liquid that had a green tint to it. The peaceful look on his face seemed to be mocking Artemis, not showing any sign of the battle his body was fighting on the inside. The battle it was fighting because she hadn't been paying close enough attention.

It was a simple recon mission, just the two of them. No M'gann or Zatanna, the girls who needed to know everything about her relationship with the redhead. No Jason, the annoying kid who never followed orders from anyone but Batman. No Nightwing, the troll that knew everything he shouldn't. It was refreshing until they were ambushed at a port in San Francisco while they were trying to gather information on the new Kobra Venom strain.

The speedster ran around distracting the criminals that had surrounded them the best he could while Artemis radioed the cave for back up. They tried to stay close to one another while trying to keep themselves from being easy targets. At one point Artemis lost sight of her boyfriend and couldn't find him again until after the Team showed up to knock out and tie up the villains.

He had been found unconscious with a deep cut on his forearm, several bruises and lacerations, and a syringe in his neck. He was overheating and extremely pale. The blood from his wounds had this weird white mix to it like marble cake. When they returned to the Cave, Star Labs determined that he was poisoned and his body wasn't burning it off like it should have been. Atom and Star Labs immediately set to work creating an antidote while the Justice League and the Team questioned the villains they captured to figure out who poisoned the Team's resident speedster and if there was an antidote.

That all happened over a week ago, and they started administering the antidote a few days ago. So far there hadn't been much change other than his heart rate and breathing finally returning to normal after being irregular for so long. The doctors had informed her that they were concerned that the damage had been done and that he may never wake up, but the archer wasn't about to lose hope.

Artemis never left Wally's side, having promised his parents that she would be with him the moment he woke up and call them not even a second later. She took care of his wounds to make sure they didn't get infected before his body could have a chance to heal them. She also took care of washing his face while she let the doctors take care of keeping the rest of him clean.

"Please wake up, Wally," she whispered in a soft, sad voice. She squeezed his hand. "I miss you." She dropped her knee and scooted closer to the bed. She brought his hand up to her lips, kissing his knuckles and resting her cheek against it. "Please wake up, Wally," she said again, her voice strained and her eyes becoming wet with tears. "You need to wake up, Kid Idiot. Your family needs you. The Team needs you. _I_ need you. WAKE UP!"

Tears glistened on Artemis' cheeks as she threw her face down into the mattress. She tried to keep herself from sobbing. But why should she care? It's not like anyone was there to see her cry. All there was was Wally and he was in a coma. If he woke up and saw her crying she would think it was a miracle.

At first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her when she heard the faint familiarity of his soothing voice muttering her name ring in her ears. When she heard it the second time her eyes registered the movement of his lips. She perked up immediately.

Maybe miracles do happen, even to those of bad blood.

"Wally," she asked in a shocked whisper. Her face was awestruck, her mouth hanging open slightly and her eyes staring at him. Wally's eyes were open and there was a small smile playing at his lips. His green eyes were obviously still adjusting to the white brightness of the room by the way his eyelids kept dancing open and closed. His skin had more of a pinkish color to it than before and he didn't look as sickly as he did before.

"The one and only, babe," he said, his voice rough from not being used for so long. He cleared his throat and his face scrunched slightly in pain. "Any chance I could have some water?" he asked. Artemis complied, grabbing a glass and the pitcher of water that Flash had left for her during one of his many visits, along with a plate of sandwiches, which she never touched.

The speedster drank down the water quickly despite Artemis' protests. He cleared his throat again as Artemis wiped up whatever water didn't make it successfully into his mouth during his haste. He made a move to sit up, but Artemis gave him a strong glare and pressed the button that lifted up the bed so he could sit up with all the effort.

"Thanks, Artemis," he said, reaching over to grab her hand. She jerked out of his reach and slouched back into her chair, crossing her arms and glaring at him. He looked at her confused and she felt a tinge of guilt, but pushed it away.

"Wallace Rudolph West, do you know what have put all of us through?" she said in a stern tone, she would have shouted, but she didn't want an Leaguers that may be around to hear her. "You were in a coma for over a week because you got yourself poisoned and almost killed, if it wasn't for the antidote that Star Labs mixed up for you y-"

"Wait! I was in a coma for over a week?" Wally interrupted her, his voice hitching slightly and he looked at her in astonishment. "Oh man, Mom and Dad are so going to kill me..." She shouldn't be surprised by his reaction- he was probably used to healing faster than most people, so being out like that must scare him.

"Yes, over a week," she growled at him, throwing her hands in the air. "What happened to you having my back?! We were supposed to stay near each other so something like this wouldn't happen! Instead you decide to go off and try to be a hero on your own and leave me exposed! You're lucky I didn't get killed!" The speedster's face was hard like he was trying to hide how much her words hurt him, but his green eyes betrayed him.

"Would you stop yelling at me," he snapped at her. "If I could remember what happened that landed me here I would tell you why I went off, but I _don't_." Artemis froze, her body rigid. It never occurred to her that he might not remember the mission. It must not have occurred to anyone or they would have warned her. What if he doesn't remember the last month or the last few months? Sure he remembers that they're in a relationship, but how much of the relationship does he remember?

"Y-you don't remember?" Artemis asked, a scared edge to her tone. She told herself that she was just scared that she would have to retrain him, but in the back of her mind she knew she was scared because he might not remember her or much of their relationship.

"Just the mission," he assured her, offering her a reassuring smile. "I remember us flying to San Francisco with the Super Cycle, but that's it." Artemis let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Wally held his arms out to her and at first she was confused as to why he was, but when she instinctively reach up to wipe the yellow sweater sleeve across her cheek she understood.

Artemis took the invitation without hesitation. She got out of her chair and into his arms, letting him pull her up into the bed beside him. The archer pressed herself against his hot body, careful not to hurt him as she buried her face in his neck. He rubbed soothing circles on her back and whispered to her repeatedly that he was okay and everything was alright.

"Don't leave me, Wally," she said into his neck in a small whisper. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

"You'd kick my butt if I even thought about leaving you so consider it done," he returned, kissing her hair. She smiled against his neck and breathed in the comforting scent that was _Wally_.

The heroes held onto each other for a few minutes until Artemis remembered the promise she made to his parents. He gave her a confused look and whimpered in protest as she pulled away from him. She felt his eyes on her as she grabbed the phone Barry had given her to contact Rudy and Mary after Wally woke up.

"I promised your parents that I would call them when you woke up," she told him as she was typed in Mary's cell phone number. She wasn't too surprised when the call was immediately picked up after the first ring.

"Artemis!" The woman on the other end answered eagerly. "How is Wally? Is he getting better? Barry told us that they had made up an antidote for him." Artemis couldn't help but smile at Mary's concern for her son, she thought it was nice that Wally had such caring parents, ones so much unlike her own father.

"He's doing better," she replied, looking at Wally. He looked nervous, like he was afraid his parents were going to take away his at home science lab. "He's awake now and he looks eager to talk to you," she added with a smirk.

"Put him on, please, Artemis," Mary pleaded. "I want to hear my son's voice." The blonde complied, handing Wally the phone.

"Hi Mom," he said as he pressed the phone to his ear. A grin soon spread across his face. Warmth welled in Artemis' chest as she listened to him talk to his worry-ridden mother. If he wasn't on the phone with his mother she would have kissed him senseless.

"Yes, I'm doing fine," he said. "Artemis seemed to take good care of me while I was out... Um, she likes chocolate and peanut butter- You know I can't promise that, Mom." He laughed and shook his head. Her heart skipped when she heard his laugh. She never thought about it, but people were right when they said that you won't miss something until it's gone.

Artemis snuggled against the speedster's side, laying her head on his shoulder and hugging his chest. Wally wrapped an arm around her and held her close, smiling down at her as he talked on the phone. His fingers played with her hair and rubbed patterns into her skin.

It was a while before he finally hung up the phone. When he did he left it laying in the bed beside him as Artemis straightened up. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. He tried to kiss her lips before she pulled away.

"You need to rest," she told him.

"I've been resting for over a week," he whined, pulling her back to him when she tried to get off the bed.

"Wally," she said in a warning tone. He hugged her abdomen tighter, keeping her from pulling away.

"Stay with me, please," he pleaded with his face buried in her hair. She didn't want to fight with him, not when he just woke up after so long.

"Fine," she sighed in defeat. She could practically hear her boyfriend grin in triumph. He pulled her down with him as he laid the bed back down flat. He was lying on his back with Artemis curled into his side. She reached over to turn off the lamp, sending the room into darkness. She snuggled against his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart.

"I love you, Artemis," Wally whispered into the darkness. Her fingers curled into the bed sheets that were over his heart.

"I love you too, Wally," she whispered in return. It still surprises her how easy it was for her to say the words now. It took her much longer than it took Wally to finally say the words, but when she did say them it was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

It didn't take the redhead long to fall back into a peaceful sleep. The archer stayed up listening to his steady breathing and rhythmic heartbeat.

She was grateful that he had finally woken up and it looked like he was going to be okay. She was beyond grateful. No matter how many times he got under her skin he always made up for it somehow, whether it was by dropping by her apartment in Gotham with an only quarter eaten box of peanut butter cookies and staying the night or sleeping over at the Cave watching all of her favorite movies and playing video games, she would always need him to help her feel normal. Well, as normal as a girl can when she was part of the Justice League's Covert Ops team.

Wally's heartbeat gradually lulled Artemis to sleep with the help of her days without sleep. They were later found by Flash and Black Canary when they came by to check on Wally after they found out he had woken up. The two heroes didn't have the heart to wake them up, so they let them sleep the day away in each other's arms.

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